Bannon: GOP ‘going to lose the Senate’ in midterms

Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon predicted this week that the Republican Party will lose its majority in the Senate in the midterm elections this fall.

In a Thursday episode of his “War Room” podcast, the conservative commentator said he has witnessed a deflation in excitement from GOP voters ahead of the November elections “because now it has to be a showdown.”

“Here’s the reason: We’re going to lose the Senate in the fall anyway,” he said. “No grassroots leader, none of the grassroots phalanx, the hoplites — nobody’s excited about going door to door and doing voter engagement.”

He criticized the Republican Party leadership’s decision to rely on standard campaign strategies in these races, saying “old-school” TV advertising “does not work.”

“There’s been a new day, and the Senate’s got to understand that, or we’re going to lose the Senate,” he said. “There is no enthusiasm for going door to door, having voter engagements, canvassing, to actually lead to victory. Those people are out there and it can be done. Texas shows you that. Virginia shows you that.”

Bannon specifically cited the Republican Senate primary race in Texas, in which incumbent Sen. John Cornyn lost to Trump-backed state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Texas race broke previous primary spending records in February, and millions of dollars were spent on the GOP runoff race. Bannon criticized the GOP’s spending on Cornyn’s campaign and against Paxton’s, saying that money was “burned in Texas.”

“This is just a taste of what’s in store. You’re going to lose the Senate,” he said, directing his comment toward the party establishment.

“We’re telling everybody to put their freaking pencils down in North Carolina, in Maine, in Ohio, all of it,” he continued. “Michigan, you want to play hardball? We’ll say, ‘Hey, look, it’s just as bad having Democrats in charge. So let’s just have Democrats in power.’”